Mass. home sales fall for 8th straight month

November sales of single family homes in Massachusetts fell nearly 13 percent compared to a year earlier, the 8th consecutive month of year-over-year sales declines, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported. The median selling price slipped to $340,000, down 4 percent from $354,000 n November 2005.

November condominium sales fell nearly 14 percent from a year earlier. The median selling price, however, rose about 2 percent from a year ago to $270,000.

The continued decline in sales, and growth in the number of homes on the market suggests the slumping housing market is still seeking a bottom. The inventory of single-family homes for sale is up 25 percent from November 2005, while the average time a property remains on the market rose to 130 days, compared to 95 days in November 2005.

Still, the realtors association said the market shows signs of stabilizing. The median sales price for a single-family home, for example, was essentially unchanged from October, the association said.

Economists say the Massachusetts housing market needed to cool after several years of red-hot sales sent prices soaring faster than incomes. Regional economists project moderate declines in home sales and prices could continue into 2008 to give incomes a chance to catch up.

“2007 will be a year to regroup and correct," Larissa Duzhansky, regional economist at Global Insight, said in a recent interview.

Earlier this week, Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported double-digit percentage declines in single-family home and condominium sales in November, compared to a year earlier. Warren Group, which includes homes sold without real estate agents, which the realtors association doesn't track, said the median sales price for a single family home in Massachusetts fell 6.5 percent from year ago, to $315,000. The median condo price fell about 2 percent, to $269,900, Warren Group said.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)